The Royal Art of Poison
Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul
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The Royal Art of Poison
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Narrated by:
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Susie Berneis
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Written by:
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Eleanor Herman
About this listen
The story of poison is the story of power. For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns, and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family's spoons, tried on their underpants, and tested their chamber pots.
Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications, and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with mercury and lead. Men rubbed turds on their bald spots. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings, and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. The most gorgeous palaces were little better than filthy latrines. Gazing at gorgeous portraits of centuries past, we don't see what lies beneath the royal robes.
In The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe’s glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, ever-present excrement, festering natural illness, and, sometimes, murder.
©2018 Eleanor Herman (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLCWhat listeners say about The Royal Art of Poison
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lisa Driscoll
- 2022-05-27
Fascinating
Fascinating historical view of poisons and the filth some of the royal palaces existing in. Highly recommend. My husband came up and told me not to get any ideas listening to this book, "I don't think you can order that on Amazon" he said.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2022-12-06
Deadly enlightening fun
Makes you glad to be living now vs in the days before plumbing (I did not know that the reason royals and the well-to-do would move between homes every 2-3 months was so that they [the houses] could be cleaned!). So, lots of so-called poisonings were just natural (given conditions), but there were plenty of direct poisonings- and the author sorts them out, with today’s science (and some exhumations). Interesting inclusion of recent well known incidents. Definitely a good listen (just not while you are eating!).
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